Saulsbury - Power hungry : the ultimate energy bar cookbook

Recipes copyright 2013 by Camilla V. Saulsbury

Photography copyright 2013 by Tina Rupp

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, without prior written consent from the publisher.

With reference to the chapter Super-Natural Knock-Offs, use of third party trademarks does not imply or constitute sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement by the owners of any third party trademarks. All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Published by:

Lake Isle Press, Inc.

2095 Broadway, Suite 301

New York, NY 10023

(212) 273-0796

E-mail:

Distributed to the trade by:

National Book Network, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200

Lanham, MD 20706

1(800) 462-6420

www.nbnbooks.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013941821

ISBN-13: 978-1-891105-54-8

ISBN-10: 1-891105-54-X

Book and cover design: Ellen Swandiak

Editor: Jennifer Sit

This book is available at special sales discounts for bulk purchases as premiums or special editions, including customized covers. For more information, contact the publisher at (212) 273-0796 or by e-mail:

First edition

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FOR CAROL KERSH SIMONS

A teacher who inspired me for a lifetime and taught me how to embrace creativity at every opportunity.

My sincerest thanks and appreciation, and a batch of homemade energy bars anytime and anywhere, goes out to the following people.

To my savvy, talented, cheer-leading agent, Clare Pelino. If you hadnt taken the time to chat, out of the blue, on a cold, rainy afternoon in New York, this book would not have happened. Thank you for introducing me to Lake Isle Press; it is a perfect fit for this project, in every way. You are a superstar.

To Hiroko Kiiffner and Jennifer Sit: I knew I was in excellent hands from the moment we began our first conference call. I cannot say enough about your kindness, encouragement, creativity, generosity, and hard work in making this book a reality. I love that you included me on every detail of the books process and encouraged me to push the possibilities for this book. Plus, you are both such delightful, considerate people. I consider myself very lucky indeed to be working with two such talented women!

Heaps of thanks and praise are also due to Ellen Swandiak, the brains behind the design of this book. I was a nervous wreck upon arriving at the first day of the food photoshoot; you swept it all away the moment I walked through the door and you instructed me to make myself at home (followed by an offer of a freshly brewed cup of coffee, which was exactly what I needed).

To Tina Rupp, photographer extraordinaire: I was a huge fan of your work before we met, and yet you still managed to surpass my expectations. What a thrill, too, to find out that the woman behind the photographs is every bit as phenomenal. I had so much fun working with you and could not be happier with the final images.

To Kevin and Nick, for all of your combined love and support, as well as for eating so many of my homemade energy bars over the years (even some of my less successful experiments/mistakes). You give me so much energy and inspirationI love you with all my heart. Thank you, too, for (1) disappearing to the park for several hours when I needed some extra time to meet deadlines; and (2) understanding when I was too pooped from testing power bar recipes all day to make dinner.

To my parents, Dan and Charlotte, for supporting every one of my new venturesalwayswith unwavering support and love.

Finally, to all of my fitness class participants, fitness buddies, and the readers of my blog, Power Hungry: your feedback of, and enthusiasm for DIY energy bars is what prompted me to keep creating new recipes and eventually sparked the idea for this project. This book is for all of you.

Heres to being power hungry!

This book has been more than a decade in the making. It all began in my twenties, the better part of which I spent eating out of my backpack.

My twenties meant graduate school, and that translated to working a ridiculous number of jobs, including, but not limited to, fitness instructor, sociology instructor, food columnist, and personal trainer. Oh, and then there was the business of being a graduate student and completing my Ph.D.

The logistics of planning and packing healthy meals and snacks to sustain me through my busy days was tricky. All told, I did my best to stuff assorted Tupperware and baggies full of cut-up vegetables, gorp, trail mix, dried fruit, granola, salads, whole grain sandwiches, and leftover tofu casserole.

But one can only carry so many pounds of food on ones back without eventually sliding into hobo-hood. Lucky for me, I recognized my need for a lightweight solution before it was too late. I soon found it in an all-too-convenient wrapper: power bars.

In retrospect, it was a deal with the devil: lighten the load, but lose the flavor. I stomached many a bar with the taste and texture of a peanut butter sponge, complemented by a soupon of band-aids and a chocolate Ex-Lax-like coating. Power bars (my preferred term because it includes all varieties of nutrition bars such as energy bars, protein bars, and activity bars) have come a long way in recent years, but my dependence began in the late nineties, a time when manufacturers were still determining how to make them taste like food.

At some point I came to my senses and headed to the kitchen to make my own.

A power bar, I soon discovered, requires little time, effort, or expertise to prepare. Making them is not rocket science, and only requires a minimum of kitchen science: combine some high energy ingredients (for example, nuts, dried fruits, seeds, whole grains, all-natural protein powder), hold it all together with some edible glue (for example, nut or seed butter, honey, maple syrup, pumpkin pure, even mashed beans), pop into the oven for a few minutesor, in many cases, simply press into a pan and chillthen cut into bars.

And the results? Delicious. All-natural. Endlessly versatile. Perfectly portable. And ever so frugal, to boot.

Now its your turn to seize the power, and with this book in hand, its quite literally within your grasp.